My name is Esmy Jimenez.
I was raised in a small town in Washington State known for agriculture and friendly people. I graduated from the local high school as the Senior Class President. I was in National Honor Society and enrolled in all the AP classes my school provided. I even ran on the cross country team and (attempted) to play tennis. On weekends I worked for a catering company…

My name is Pat. My first "American" family member got to these shores in 1621. His name is William Claiborne and there is a plaque dedicated to him in the church at Jamestown. However, the other half of my family is Irish. The Irish side of my family, while I am not certain, very likely arrived here without any papers since they fled here during the famine. So, in…

In 1998, I met my immigrant husband in Chicago while I was in AmeriCorps and going to school. By that time, he had been in the US for almost 10 years--he had earned his GED, learned English, and moved up from his original position as dishwasher to become a kitchen manager.
We fell in love.
In 2002, we got married in his hometown in Mexico. We were told that petitioning…

While sitting at a scholarship pageant, I remember how an idyllic teenage girl explained that her dream was to become a teacher. I was a cynical teen in those days and so I rolled my eyes as her sweet, but very breathy voice tinkled the words, "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way." I had to chew on the sides of…

Question? Can a baby break the law? I'm guessing everyone says no, right? Go ahead and google it, and look it up. You'll probably will find nothing about it. So why do people label me or anyone else a criminal then? Was it a crime for a baby to want to live on? Be it in the USA or anywhere else?
I was brought here to this country way before…

At age 15 my parents moved my sister and I to Brooklyn, NY. After 7 years of separation our family was finally together. That was how my journey to the American dream started.
Since I was undocumented I couldn't take the scholarships I earned when I graduated high school. Lucky for me some CUNY schools did not have restrictions nor extra fees for undocumented students. My uncle who was also…

I am 52 years old, white, male, and a retired navy chief petty officer. Although always aware of the need for change in our country’s immigration system, my interest started becoming acute after I heard about the Bracero Program that started at the beginning of World War II and lasted until 1964. The program came about when the United States approached Mexico for help during the critical labor shortage caused…

While I was born in this country, many of my friends and teammates on my soccer team were not. There are thousands of hard-working Americans who put in every effort to support American ideals and follow the laws to the letter.
On the other hand, there are also thousands of kids who are naturalized citizens who become involved in drug dealing, degradation of women, and fighting for no good reason…

I have had an enormous amount of people ask me “What are you? Where are you from?” When people ask this, they are referring to my ethnicity, and/or race. I have had a full range of different people guess different ethnicities all based on what I look like; but I have never had anyone tell me I look “American;” which is one way I could identify myself if I really…

I Stand With the #1of11Million

Sign and share the petition in support of #1of11million.

Congress has failed to act on immigration reform. Now, while President Obama weighs executive action, eleven undocumented Americans have stepped forward, risking deportation, to proactively apply for deferred action--entry into a legal program that could prevent them from being ripped from their families and communities. The #1of11Million campaign is led by Define American in partnership with the National Immigration Law Center.

In telling these eleven individual stories, we are highlighting the complexities of the immigration system and bringing attention the 11.7 million undocumented Americans that reside in the US and are a valuable part of our communities.

Send a clear message to the President and to the media. Stand with these 11 brave undocumented Americans, and the 11 Million they represent by signing the petition.